The Animal Lyrics Project

Friday, January 15, 2016

Last summer, ThankTank Creative invited vegan designers (including me!) to submit designs into the Animal Lyrics Project: A Vegan Exhibition. It's an online poster gallery dedicated to music, graphic art and veganism. Here's my submission below and a few of my faves from the exhibit. You can see the entire gallery on The Meaty Vegan blog.

Pony on the Road: Sister Corita Kent at the Harvard Art Museums

Saturday, December 26, 2015

I went to see Corita Kent and the Language of Poptoday at the Harvard Art Museums. The exhibit of screen prints by former Catholic nun Sister Corita Kent was fantastic. Here are some of my favorites from the show.

(tame) to leave to love

elephant's q

life is a complicated business

someday is now

the sea queen

where there's life there's mud

If you have the chance to see the show, I highly recommend it!xo, Laurie Pony

Hey Stockists, Tag Us and Win!

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Hello lovely stockists, this one is for you!There's one week left to enter the contest to win $50 toward your next wholesale order. You should have received our new catalog mailing by now, so go ahead and snap a fun photo of the catalog and/or card sample. Post the pic on one or more of the social media platforms below by June 20, 2015 and be sure to tag us. Get creative and have fun! We will pick our two favorite stockist photos to win $50 towards your next order of $150 or more. Thanks and good luck!

Mmmondays: Kitchen Sink Chai

Monday, March 9, 2015

There's nothing better than a hot cup of tea on a cold winter day. And if you've seen the news lately about New England, we've had plenty of cold and FLIPPIN' SNOWY winter days here! (Anyone else ready for spring or is it just me?) So this week's Mmmonday post is about my super special Kitchen Sink Chai.

For you newbies, chai is pronouced with a long "i" like pie. Speaking of pie, a piece would go great with this chai! Anyway, I first learned how to make chai from a coworker about 15 years ago. I also learned chai just means tea in many parts of the world, so you may not get anything like this tea if you order chai elswhere (unless they have Starbucks there). The chai I am referring to originates in India and my version is made with spices, sweetener and soy milk.

Mmmondays: Get Lucky with Black Eyed Peas

Monday, December 29, 2014

No, not THE Black Eyed Peas silly.

A tasty southern legend has it that eating black eyed peas and greens on the first day of the year brings good luck. So, we've been scouring the interwebs for some yummy dishes to share with y'all. Here are a few we may be trying out ourselves this New Year's Day. (Corn bread isn't part of the tradition but it should be because it's crazy delicious!)

Fabulous Vegan Black-Eyed Peas, Greens and Cornbread recipe available on Well Vegan

Getting to Know: Deirdre 'Little Darling' Franklin

Saturday, December 6, 2014

We're excited to introduce a new regular feature called "Getting to Know" on the Two Trick Pony blog. We'll be interviewing shop owners, customers, fellow creatives and anyone else we find fascinating!

Our first guest is Deirdre 'Little Darling' Franklin who we first learned about on Episode 244 of the Our Hen House podcast. Deirdre is the founder of Pinups for Pitbulls, a non profit whose mission is to educate people about the history, temperament, and plight of the pit bull-type dog. Deirdre and her husband Jeff recently opened a storefront to support their animal advocacy work. The shop is called Darlings and is located at 69-A Biltmore Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina. Let's learn more about Deirdre and Darlings...

Jeff and Deirdre (owners of Darlings and also run Pinups for Pitbulls) with their two dogs, Zoe and Baxter Bean. Image by Celeste Giuliano Photography for Pinups for Pitbulls, Inc.

Let's start with the basic 411, tell us about Darlings. When will you open for business, where are you located, what will you be selling?Darlings officially opened on Black Friday in downtown Asheville, NC. We are an eclectic boutique that features items from our non profit Pinups for Pitbulls, Inc. as well as Pin-Up clothing, guys clothes, baby gear, vegan handbags and wallets, letterpress and screen printed cards from amazing companies like yours, books, jewelry, and handmade items.

Give us a snapshot of a typical day getting Darlings off the ground.A typical day includes taking care of our pups, then filling our doggie water bowl for dog guests in our store. We like to sweep the leaves out in front of the walkway (which feels very zen), thank the universe for allowing us to seek our dreams, and then we get to work filling Pinups for Pitbulls and Up the Pups orders!

Do you play music in the shop? If so, what are some of your current favorite tunes? We love music and we both come from a punk and hardcore background. We play anything from Lucero to Morrissey, Neko Case to Nouvelle Vague, and even fun sugar pop like Lily Allen.

If you could have one celebrity, historical figure or other well known person come into your shop, who would it be and why?Celebrity/Historical Figure: We would love for Anthony Bourdain to come to our store. I am vegan and my husband is working on a vegan cookbook for "meat eaters" (he is still an omnivore). We're convinced that he'd love our work with dogs and would love our dietary theories. We also appreciate his musical background and think he'd have a great platform to get the word out about what we do.

Tell us about any mentors that helped you along the way to becoming a business owner. (Could be a teacher, family member, business savvy canine, imaginary friend, etc.)Our friend Brook Timm from Rudy's Round Up (Chicago) gave us a lot of great pointers when we were looking for vendors in line with our mission. We are forever grateful to her for her assistance; that's how we found you! Carla Lou is the late four-legged founder of Pinups for Pitbulls and inspired me to start Pinups for Pitbulls a decade ago. Without her, none of this would be happening.

Are you active on social media? If so, where can folks find you?We are active on social media!

Tell us about any furry, feathery or scaly companions in your life.Baxter Bean is our pit bull mix. He's approximately 9 years old and was my "foster failure" when he was only 6 months old. He survived a serious chemical burn (or fire) that runs from his neck to the base of his hips and simply stole my heart.

Zoe Z. is our Harrier mix. She's 14 and is one of the sassiest little bear faced dogs on earth.You just stepped into a time machine, when and where do you go?I would go back to the late 1800s and nip dog fighting in the bud before it could ever become something of interest.I might also snag a few great dresses and pieces of furniture afterwards.

Anything else you'd like to share? Now is your chance, don't be shy!I just had a book published that is in stores and on our website. I have begun a book signing tour and would love for people to visit the Pinups for Pitbulls site to see if there are any signings in their region. Click here to check out the book.

Thought of the Day | 11.18.14

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Mmmondays! Nutty Oatmeal Cookies

Monday, November 17, 2014

Mmmondays is back! After a long hiatus, we thought we’d open up the doors to the Pony kitchen and share a recent favorite recipe. This one is especially awesome because of how versatile it is. Don’t like raisins? Use cranberries or any other dried fruit instead, or better yet double up on the chocolate chips! Don’t like bananas? That’s just crazy, who doesn’t like bananas? You can use applesauce instead if you must. (Actually Mr. Pony prefers them that way.)

Thought of the Day | 11.13.14

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Thought of the Day | 11.12.14

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Top Shop: The Artisan Center

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Since 1977, The Artisan Center in Denver has been offering its customers funky and unique gifts from home decor to baby clothes to fabulous American-made jewelry. Whether you are looking for sweet things for the little ones (creative animal mittens!) or the perfect pillow, this eclectic Top Shop is just what the Ponies ordered! Check ‘em out on Facebook where they seem to always be celebrating a special occasion!